As I mentioned in several past articles, I quit the gym and started exercising at home. To my pleasure, I have lost 35 pounds since this same time last year and have been getting an excellent workout with a few pieces of home exercise equipment:
In addition to the above which I swear by, I have also been exercising with the Ab Wheel and Perfect Pushups. The perfect pushups I use mostly for traveling, but if you are on a budget and cannot afford a good set of dumbbells and bench, you can get a good chest workout just from pushups. The nice thing about the Perfect Pushups is that they definitely help take the pressure of your wrists. The Ab Wheel, which my wife purchased for me as a gift, has never really done much for my abs, but it is a really good workout for your shoulders, arms, and chest, which I am about to talk about now!
Shoulder, Arm and Chest Workout with Ab Wheel Roller
If you haven't read my Ab Wheel Review, I highly recommend you do so as it provides more background on the pros and cons of the Ab Wheel.
Although my wife purchased the Ab Wheel so that I may have a bit of variety in my ab workouts, the Ab Wheel never really strengthened my abs. I think this may be because I have been using the Ab Rocket almost daily for over a year to strengthen my abs and for the first time in my life my abs are strong with a noticeable six pack.
One of my concerns early on about the Ab Wheel was the noticeable pressure on my lower back. Interesting how after a few months of using the Ab Wheel every 2 to 3 days I no longer notice the pressure on my back. I think the Ab Wheel helped strengthen my core back muscle, which is really nice. Still, if you do start to use the Ab Wheel for home fitness, you indeed need to start slowly. Make small movements, don't go to exhaustion, breathe correctly, use it only every 3 days at first, etc. Allow your back to get stronger slowly or you risk the chance of hurting it.
Once you strengthen your back, however, and begin to expand your range of motion with the ab wheel, you will definitely start to get a good workout for your shoulders, arms, and chest. Those with weak abs will probably notice the Ab Wheel strengthening your abs as well, but like I said, my abs were already pretty strong so I didn't notice this first hand.
What I do notice, however, is an amazing arm, shoulder, and chest workout that offers really nice variety to the BowFlex Dumbbells. I do 4 sets of the Ab Wheel with anywhere from 30 - 50 repetitions in each set. My first time I am able to do 50+ repetitions and then slowly start to dwindle about 5 to 10 reps each set. I can tell you that my shoulders and triceps are especially burning after each set by the time I am done. As my arms start to weaken with each set my chest kicks in and starts to burn as well. It is a pretty intense workout with anywhere from 30 to 60 seconds between sets.
Conclusion
For $10, you can't beat a good Ab Wheel Roller for strengthening your arms, shoulders, and chest. Like I said, however, start slowly because it will definitely put some pressure on your back and I assume abs. The Ab Wheel is definitely an advanced workout, but by starting slowly and exercising consistently it is a great home workout at an afforable price. What I also love is that it takes almost no room. I stick it in my closet when not using it.
Check out the reviews on Amazon.
Hope this helps.
David Hayden